City factbook · California, United States
The complete city guide
San Francisco
San Francisco: The Complete Guide to the City — History, Facts, Statistics, and Data
History, facts, statistics, and data—from the city’s hills and neighborhoods to its housing market, AI economy, culture, and civic life.
Population
826,079
July 1, 2025 estimate
Land area
46.91sq mi
121.5 square kilometers
Median income
$140,970
Household · 2020–24 ACS
Metro GDP
$778.9B
San Francisco–Oakland · 2023
Annual visitors
23.7M
2025 · $9.4B spending
The city in context
A compact city with outsized influence
San Francisco skyline from the Marin Headlands · Wikimedia Commons · CC0
San Francisco is a consolidated city-county in Northern California occupying 46.91 square miles at the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula. With an estimated 826,079 residents as of July 1, 2025, it is the fourth-largest city in California and the 17th-largest in the United States — but it is also the second-densest major American city after New York, packing roughly 17,600 people into every square mile. That combination of small footprint and extreme density has shaped everything about San Francisco: its housing crisis, its transit network, its microclimates, and its outsized cultural and economic influence relative to its modest population.
This page compiles the essential facts and statistics about San Francisco — geography, history, demographics, economy, government, housing, transportation, education, culture, and public safety — drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the San Francisco Controller's Office, the San Francisco Police Department, SF Travel, and other primary sources. Where figures are contested or rapidly changing, the reporting period is stated so the numbers can be verified and updated.
At a glance
San Francisco Key Facts and Figures
The table below consolidates the most frequently cited San Francisco statistics into a single reference. All figures are the most recent published values as of August 2026.
August 2026Overview data
| Attribute | Detail |
|---|---|
| Official name | City and County of San Francisco |
| Nicknames | The City, SF, Fog City, Baghdad by the Bay, The City by the Bay |
| State / Country | California, United States |
| Founded | June 29, 1776 (Presidio); October 9, 1776 (Mission San Francisco de Asís) |
| Incorporated | April 15, 1850 |
| Consolidated city-county | 1856 — the only one in California |
| Land area | 46.91 sq mi (121.5 km²) |
| Total area incl. water | 231.9 sq mi (600.6 km²) |
| Elevation range | 0 ft to 928 ft (Mount Davidson) |
| Population (2025 est.) | 826,079 |
| Population (2020 Census) | 873,965 |
| Population density (2020) | 18,629 per sq mi |
| Metro population | Approximately 3.36 million (SF–Oakland MSA, 2025) |
| Combined Statistical Area | Over 9 million (San Jose–San Francisco–Oakland CSA) |
| Median household income | $140,970 (2020–2024 ACS, 2024 dollars) |
| Per capita income | $92,289 |
| Poverty rate | 11.2% |
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 60.3% of adults 25+ |
| Foreign-born residents | 34.0% |
| Time zone | Pacific (UTC−8 / UTC−7 DST) |
| Area codes | 415, 628 |
| FIPS code | 06-67000 |
| Airport | San Francisco International (SFO) |
Land & environment
Geography, Topography, and Climate of San Francisco
San Francisco sits at the northern end of a 32-mile-long peninsula, bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west, San Francisco Bay to the east, and the Golden Gate strait to the north. This position — a narrow land bridge between an ocean and one of the largest natural harbors on the Pacific coast — explains both the city's historic strategic importance and its famously unpredictable weather.
Municipal geographyCoordinates
37.77° N, 122.42° WPeninsula between ocean and bayHighest point
Mount Davidson · 928 ftHighest of more than 40 named hillsClimate
MediterraneanCool summers and mild, wet wintersTotal jurisdiction
231.9 sq miIncluding bay waters and islandsLand Area and Boundaries
The city proper covers 46.91 square miles of land, a figure that has changed only marginally since 2010 (46.87 sq mi) through minor landfill and boundary adjustments. Counting the surrounding water within its jurisdiction, total area rises to roughly 231.9 square miles. San Francisco's boundaries also encompass the Farallon Islands, 27 miles offshore, and Alcatraz and Treasure Islands within the bay. Its only land border is with Daly City and Brisbane in San Mateo County to the south.
Hills and Elevation
San Francisco is built across more than 40 named hills, a topography that shaped its street grid, its cable car system, and its neighborhood identities. The highest points are Mount Davidson at 928 feet, Twin Peaks at 922 feet, and Mount Sutro at 909 feet. Several streets exceed 30% grade — Filbert Street between Leavenworth and Hyde reaches 31.5%, among the steepest paved public roads in the United States. The hills also generate the microclimate variation that defines daily life in the city.
Climate and Weather Patterns
San Francisco has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb), characterized by dry summers, wet winters, and an unusually narrow annual temperature range. Cold water upwelling in the Pacific combines with inland Central Valley heat to produce the advection fog that blankets the western half of the city for much of the summer. Contrary to expectation, September and October are the warmest months, while July is frequently the foggiest.
Climate and Weather Patterns
| Climate Metric | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Average annual rainfall | Approximately 23 inches | Roughly 80% falls November through March |
| Warmest month | September | Average highs near 70°F |
| Coolest month | January | Average lows near 46°F |
| Record high | 106°F (September 1, 2017) | Set during a regional heat event |
| Record low | 27°F (December 1932) | Snow is exceptionally rare |
| Annual sunshine | Approximately 3,060 hours | Highly variable by neighborhood |
| Rainy days per year | Approximately 70 | Concentrated in the wet season |
Seismic Setting
San Francisco lies within one of the most seismically active regions in North America. The San Andreas Fault runs offshore roughly seven miles west of the city, while the Hayward Fault runs beneath the East Bay. The 1906 earthquake, now estimated at magnitude 7.9, and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake at magnitude 6.9 both caused catastrophic damage. The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated a roughly 72% probability of a magnitude 6.7 or greater earthquake striking the Bay Area within a 30-year window, which underpins the city's aggressive seismic retrofit ordinances for soft-story buildings.
Parks and Open Space
San Francisco maintains more than 220 parks covering roughly 5,700 acres — approximately 19% of the city's land area. Golden Gate Park, at 1,017 acres, is larger than New York's Central Park and draws an estimated 24 million visits annually. The Presidio, a 1,491-acre former military post, became part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in 1994. San Francisco has repeatedly ranked first in the Trust for Public Land's ParkScore index, in part because essentially all residents live within a ten-minute walk of a park.
250 years of change
The History of San Francisco: From Ohlone Settlement to AI Capital
San Francisco's history is a sequence of booms — gold, silver, railroads, shipping, semiconductors, the internet, and now artificial intelligence — each punctuated by disaster or collapse. Understanding that rhythm is essential to interpreting the city's current statistics.
1776–presentIndigenous and Spanish Colonial Period (Pre-1776 to 1821)
The San Francisco Peninsula was home to the Yelamu, a group of the Ramaytush Ohlone, for thousands of years before European contact. Spanish colonization began in earnest in 1776, when the Presidio of San Francisco was established on June 29 and Mission San Francisco de Asís — universally known as Mission Dolores — was founded on October 9. Mission Dolores remains the oldest intact structure in the city. The Ohlone population collapsed under the mission system through disease and forced labor.
Mexican Rule and American Annexation (1821–1848)
Following Mexican independence in 1821, the missions were secularized and a small trading settlement called Yerba Buena grew near the bay shore. On July 9, 1846, during the Mexican–American War, U.S. forces claimed the settlement; it was renamed San Francisco on January 30, 1847. At that point the town held roughly 500 people.
The Gold Rush and Explosive Growth (1848–1869)
The discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in January 1848 transformed San Francisco within eighteen months. Population rose from approximately 1,000 in 1848 to about 25,000 by the end of 1849, and to 34,776 by the 1852 state census. The city incorporated on April 15, 1850, weeks before California achieved statehood. Hundreds of abandoned ships were scuttled and built over, and much of today's Financial District sits atop that buried fleet. Chinese immigration during this period established San Francisco's Chinatown, the oldest in North America.
Industrial Expansion and the Silver Age (1869–1906)
The completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 and the Nevada Comstock Lode silver boom made San Francisco the financial capital of the American West. Andrew Hallidie's first cable car line opened in 1873 to solve the problem of hauling passengers up the city's grades. By 1900 the population had reached 342,782, making San Francisco the ninth-largest city in the United States and by far the largest west of the Mississippi.
The 1906 Earthquake and Fire
At 5:12 a.m. on April 18, 1906, an earthquake now estimated at magnitude 7.9 struck along the San Andreas Fault. The shaking itself was severe, but the ensuing fires — burning for three days, worsened by ruptured water mains and misapplied dynamite firebreaks — destroyed roughly 80% of the city, including some 28,000 buildings across 500 city blocks. Death toll estimates were officially reported at around 700 but are now widely believed to exceed 3,000. More than 250,000 people, over half the population, were left homeless. Reconstruction was remarkably fast, and the city showcased its recovery at the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition.
Bridges, War, and the United Nations (1930–1950)
The 1930s produced San Francisco's two defining pieces of infrastructure: the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge opened in November 1936, and the Golden Gate Bridge opened on May 27, 1937. During World War II the Bay Area became a massive shipbuilding and embarkation center, drawing large numbers of Black workers from the South and permanently reshaping the city's demographics. On June 26, 1945, delegates from 50 nations signed the United Nations Charter at the War Memorial Veterans Building, and the Treaty of San Francisco formally ending the war with Japan was signed in the city in 1951.
Counterculture and Civil Rights (1950–1990)
San Francisco became a global center of countercultural movements. The Beat Generation coalesced in North Beach in the 1950s; the 1967 Summer of Love drew an estimated 100,000 young people to Haight-Ashbury. The Castro District emerged as one of the first and most visible LGBTQ neighborhoods in the world. Harvey Milk was elected to the Board of Supervisors in 1977, becoming one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States, and was assassinated alongside Mayor George Moscone on November 27, 1978. The AIDS epidemic devastated the city in the 1980s. The Loma Prieta earthquake struck on October 17, 1989, killing 63 people across the region and leading to the demolition of the Embarcadero Freeway — which reopened the waterfront and reshaped the modern city.
Technology Booms and the Modern Era (1995–Present)
The dot-com boom between 1995 and 2001 pushed office vacancy from 10% down to roughly 1% before collapsing. The mobile and social media era from 2008 to 2019 was larger and longer, adding some 31 million square feet of tech office footprint and lowering vacancy from 16% to 4%. The COVID-19 pandemic — San Francisco was among the first U.S. cities to issue shelter-in-place orders, on March 16, 2020 — triggered the deepest office market collapse in American history, with vacancy peaking above 35%. Since 2023, artificial intelligence has driven a third boom, with AI firms accounting for roughly 30% of all office leasing activity and more than three-quarters of net absorption.
Milestones
San Francisco Historical Timeline
Historical timeline data
| Year | Event | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1776 | Presidio and Mission Dolores founded by Spanish colonists | — |
| 1847 | Yerba Buena renamed San Francisco | Approximately 500 |
| 1848 | Gold discovered at Sutter's Mill | 1,000 |
| 1849 | Gold Rush migration peaks | 25,000 |
| 1850 | City incorporated; California statehood | — |
| 1869 | Transcontinental railroad completed | 149,473 (1870) |
| 1873 | First cable car line opens | — |
| 1906 | Earthquake and fire destroy 80% of the city | 410,863 (1900: 342,782) |
| 1936–37 | Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge open | 634,394 (1940) |
| 1945 | United Nations Charter signed | — |
| 1967 | Summer of Love | 715,674 (1970) |
| 1978 | Moscone and Milk assassinated | — |
| 1989 | Loma Prieta earthquake | 723,959 (1990) |
| 2000 | Dot-com boom peaks | 776,733 |
| 2020 | Pandemic shelter-in-place; population peak recorded | 873,965 |
| 2025 | AI boom drives office market recovery | 826,079 |
Population & community
San Francisco Demographics and Population Statistics
San Francisco's population statistics tell a story of post-pandemic contraction followed by stabilization. The city reached an all-time high of 873,965 in the 2020 Census, then lost residents rapidly through 2022 as remote work enabled outmigration. The Census Bureau's July 1, 2025 estimate of 826,079 represents a 6.0% decline from the 2020 estimates base — a loss of roughly 52,000 people — though the rate of decline has slowed substantially.
2020–24 ACSPopulation
Selected Census yearsRace and Ethnicity
San Francisco is a majority-minority city with no racial group constituting a majority. Non-Hispanic White residents make up 36.8% of the population, while Asian residents account for 35.2% — the highest share of any major U.S. mainland city.
Race and Ethnicity
| Race / Ethnicity | Share of Population | Approximate Count |
|---|---|---|
| White alone | 39.1% | 323,000 |
| Asian alone | 35.2% | 291,000 |
| Hispanic or Latino (any race) | 16.2% | 134,000 |
| Two or more races | 11.9% | 98,000 |
| Black or African American alone | 5.0% | 41,000 |
| American Indian and Alaska Native alone | 0.7% | 5,800 |
| Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander alone | 0.4% | 3,300 |
| White alone, not Hispanic or Latino | 36.8% | 304,000 |
Immigration and Language
Foreign-born residents make up 34.0% of San Francisco's population — roughly one in three residents — and 43.6% of residents aged five and older speak a language other than English at home. The largest immigrant origin countries are China, the Philippines, Mexico, and India. Cantonese and Mandarin together form the second-most-spoken language group after English, followed by Spanish and Tagalog.
Age, Households, and Education
San Francisco has an unusual age profile: only 13.7% of residents are under 18 — one of the lowest child shares of any major American city — while 17.6% are 65 or older. The median age is approximately 40. There are 363,970 households averaging just 2.21 persons, reflecting the city's high share of single-person and roommate households. Educationally, San Francisco is exceptional: 60.3% of adults aged 25 and over hold a bachelor's degree or higher, roughly double the national rate of about 35%.
Age, Households, and Education
| Demographic Indicator | San Francisco | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|
| Population under 5 years | 4.1% | 5.6% |
| Population under 18 years | 13.7% | 21.5% |
| Population 65 years and over | 17.6% | 18.0% |
| Female population | 48.7% | 50.4% |
| Foreign-born residents | 34.0% | 13.9% |
| Bachelor's degree or higher (25+) | 60.3% | 35.0% |
| High school graduate or higher (25+) | 89.0% | 89.4% |
| Persons per household | 2.21 | 2.51 |
| Uninsured under age 65 | 3.8% | 9.5% |
| Living in same house one year ago | 84.3% | 87.0% |
Work & enterprise
The San Francisco Economy: GDP, Industry, and the AI Boom
San Francisco anchors one of the wealthiest regional economies on earth. The San Francisco–Oakland metropolitan statistical area recorded a gross domestic product of $778.9 billion in 2023 according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the nine-county Bay Area exceeds $1.5 trillion in gross regional product with per capita output of roughly $192,000 — a figure higher than the national output per capita of any country.
City + regional dataMetro GDP
$778.9BSan Francisco–Oakland, 2023Median income
$140,970Household, 2020–24 ACSOffice vacancy
29.7%Second quarter of 2026Annual visitors
23.7M2025 visitor volumeIncome and Wealth
Median household income in San Francisco is $140,970 in 2024 dollars, and per capita income is $92,289 — both among the highest of any large American city. Yet 11.2% of residents live below the federal poverty line, and San Francisco has one of the widest income distributions in the country. Total retail sales reached $29.5 billion in the most recent Economic Census, or $36,554 per capita.
The Technology Sector
Technology dominates the San Francisco economy without dominating its employment statistics. As of November 2025, the two-county San Francisco–San Mateo region reported 190,800 tech jobs — down approximately 14% from the August 2022 peak of 222,400 and about 2% year over year. This is the central paradox of the current cycle: enormous AI capital investment is flowing into the city while headcount growth remains flat, because AI is eliminating roles as fast as it creates them. San Francisco's chief economist has attributed most current private-sector growth to indirect effects of AI investment rather than direct AI hiring.
The Office Market Recovery
San Francisco suffered the most severe office market collapse of any major U.S. city, with vacancy peaking above 35% in early 2025. That has reversed sharply. Office vacancy fell to roughly 29.7% in the second quarter of 2026, down from 34.7% a year earlier — the largest year-over-year improvement in the country. Tenants signed 2.8 million square feet in Q2 2026 alone, bringing the year-to-date total to 7 million square feet, while net absorption of 2.9 million square feet in the first half already exceeded all of 2025. Average asking rents climbed to $71.67 per square foot. AI companies drove the turnaround, accounting for approximately 30% of leasing since 2023 and more than three-quarters of net absorption. The number of AI leases signed in the city rose from two in 2020 to 167 by early 2025.
Major Employers and Headquarters
San Francisco hosts the headquarters of Salesforce, Wells Fargo, Visa, Levi Strauss & Co., Gap Inc., Prologis, Uber, Airbnb, Block, Pinterest, Reddit, Dropbox, DoorDash, and Lyft, alongside the leading artificial intelligence laboratories including OpenAI, Anthropic, and Databricks. Outside technology and finance, the largest employers are the City and County of San Francisco itself, UCSF, Kaiser Permanente, Sutter Health, and the hospitality sector.
Tourism and the Visitor Economy
Tourism is San Francisco's second economic engine. The city welcomed 23.7 million visitors in 2025, who spent $9.4 billion, generated $655 million in local tax revenue, and supported 63,900 jobs. SF Travel projects 24.2 million visitors in 2026 with $9.9 billion in spending, which would surpass the pre-pandemic record of $9.6 billion set in 2019. The Moscone Center scheduled 36 conferences for 2026, up from 34 in 2025, projected to generate approximately 670,000 hotel room nights. Hotel occupancy has recovered to roughly 64–65% with average daily rates near $233.
Tourism and the Visitor Economy
| Economic Indicator | Value | Period |
|---|---|---|
| SF–Oakland metro GDP | $778.9 billion | 2023 (BEA) |
| Bay Area gross regional product | Over $1.5 trillion | 2024 |
| Bay Area output per capita | Approximately $192,000 | 2024 |
| Median household income | $140,970 | 2020–2024 ACS |
| Per capita income | $92,289 | 2020–2024 ACS |
| Poverty rate | 11.2% | 2024 |
| Labor force participation (16+) | 69.6% | 2020–2024 ACS |
| Tech jobs (SF–San Mateo) | 190,800 | November 2025 |
| Office vacancy rate | Approximately 29.7% | Q2 2026 |
| Average office asking rent | $71.67 per sq ft | Q2 2026 |
| Annual visitors | 23.7 million | 2025 |
| Visitor spending | $9.4 billion | 2025 |
| Total retail sales | $29.5 billion | 2022 Economic Census |
Civic structure
Government, Politics, and the City Budget
San Francisco is the only consolidated city-county in California, a structure adopted in 1856. This means a single government performs both municipal functions (police, fire, parks, streets) and county functions (public health, jails, courts administration, elections, social services), which materially affects how its budget compares to other cities.
FY 2026–28City executive
Mayor Daniel LurieConsolidated city and county · 11 supervisorial districts
Structure of Government
Executive authority rests with the Mayor, elected to four-year terms. Daniel Lurie took office in January 2025, defeating incumbent London Breed. Legislative authority rests with an 11-member Board of Supervisors elected by district. Several other officials are independently elected, including the City Attorney, District Attorney, Sheriff, Assessor-Recorder, Treasurer, and Public Defender — San Francisco is one of very few U.S. jurisdictions with an elected Public Defender.
The City Budget
Mayor Lurie signed a two-year budget of $16.9 billion for fiscal year 2026–27 and $17.2 billion for 2027–28. The plan closed a projected two-year deficit of more than $600 million through department reorganizations and the elimination of approximately 550 positions, most of them vacant. Roughly $2 billion of the budget flows from federal sources, creating significant exposure to federal policy changes; the city maintains a dedicated federal risk reserve of roughly $433 million. The Controller's Office projects the structural deficit could still approach $1 billion by fiscal 2029–30.
Political Character
San Francisco is among the most reliably Democratic jurisdictions in the United States, with Democratic presidential candidates routinely carrying 80–85% of the vote. Local politics, however, are competitive and fall along a moderate-versus-progressive axis rather than a partisan one, with recurring fights over housing production, policing, drug policy, and transit funding. The city uses ranked-choice voting for most local offices and has an unusually active ballot measure process.
Homes & affordability
Housing, Rent, and the Cost of Living in San Francisco
Housing is San Francisco's defining policy problem and its most-cited statistic. The median value of owner-occupied housing units is $1,394,500, and the median gross rent is $2,476 per month — though asking rents for newly available units run substantially higher.
Citywide mediansHousing tenure
San Francisco is a majority-renter cityMedian home value
$1.394MOwner-occupied unitsMedian gross rent
$2,476Per monthHouseholds
363,9702020–24 ACSPoverty rate
11.2%Latest cited figureOwnership and Affordability
Only 38.2% of San Francisco housing units are owner-occupied, compared with roughly 65% nationally — making San Francisco a majority-renter city. Median monthly owner costs for households with a mortgage exceed $4,000. Roughly 84.3% of residents lived in the same home a year earlier, indicating that turnover is low and that rent-controlled tenancies create strong incentives to stay put.
The Current Market
After three years of softness, the San Francisco housing market reversed sharply in 2025 and 2026. Asking rents for vacant apartments grew 14% between March and July 2026, and home prices are rising at double-digit annual rates even as prices decline across California as a whole. The city's chief economist has directly attributed the divergence to AI investment concentrating wealth and demand within a small, supply-constrained geography.
The Current Market
| Housing Metric | San Francisco | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|
| Median home value | $1,394,500 | $303,400 |
| Median gross rent | $2,476/month | $1,406/month |
| Owner-occupied rate | 38.2% | 65.0% |
| Median owner costs with mortgage | $4,000+ | $2,035 |
| Median owner costs without mortgage | $1,020 | $630 |
| Total households | 363,970 | — |
Homelessness
The most recent published federally mandated point-in-time count recorded 8,323 people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco, of whom 4,355 were unsheltered — living on the street or in vehicles. That figure represented a 7% increase over the prior biennial count. Homelessness response consumes a substantial share of the city budget, with the current two-year plan allocating $120 million for unhoused families and other vulnerable populations plus $100 million reserved against potential state and federal funding cuts.
Mobility & gateways
Transportation and Infrastructure in San Francisco
San Francisco has one of the highest transit mode shares in the United States, a legacy of dense development and constrained road capacity. Mean travel time to work is 30.4 minutes.
2025 figuresMuni Metro
34.2Mboardings in 2025SFO
54.53Mpassengers in 2025Mean commute
30.4 minjourney to workMuni
The San Francisco Municipal Railway, operated by the SFMTA, runs buses, trolleybuses, light rail, historic streetcars, and cable cars across the city. Muni Metro, the light rail component, carried 34.2 million boardings in 2025 with average weekday ridership of 105,400 in the fourth quarter, making it the fifth-busiest light rail system in the United States. The system spans 38.9 miles across seven lines and 117 stations. Muni overall has recovered roughly 70% of pre-pandemic ridership, with some high-frequency corridors such as the 49 Van Ness/Mission exceeding 2019 levels on weekends.
BART and Regional Rail
Bay Area Rapid Transit connects San Francisco to the East Bay, the Peninsula, and SFO across a 131-mile network. BART ridership remains below 50% of 2019 levels — the weakest recovery of any major U.S. heavy rail system, reflecting its heavy dependence on downtown office commuters. The agency faces a budget deficit of roughly $375 million and has stated that closing it through fares alone would require ridership to more than double. Caltrain, which links San Francisco to San Jose, completed electrification in 2024 and has seen stronger ridership growth.
Cable Cars
San Francisco's cable car system, operating since 1873, is the world's last manually operated cable car system and the only mobile National Historic Landmark in the United States. Three lines — Powell-Hyde, Powell-Mason, and California Street — remain in service, functioning today primarily as a tourist attraction carrying millions of riders annually.
Bridges and Roads
The Golden Gate Bridge, opened in 1937, carries roughly 112,000 vehicles daily across a 4,200-foot main span suspended between 746-foot towers, painted in the distinctive International Orange. The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge carries approximately 260,000 vehicles daily and is among the busiest bridges in the world. San Francisco also operates one of the largest autonomous vehicle deployments anywhere, with Waymo running commercial robotaxi service citywide.
San Francisco International Airport
SFO served 54.53 million passengers in 2025, a 4.3% increase over 2024 and approaching its 2019 record of 57.49 million. International traffic accounted for 15.91 million passengers, or 29.3% of the total. The airport recorded 416,288 aircraft operations in 2025 and offers nonstop service to more than 140 destinations, including over 60 international cities. SFO is the second-busiest airport in California after LAX and supports roughly 28,000 on-airport jobs.
Schools & research
Education and Universities in San Francisco
San Francisco Unified School District operates approximately 120 schools serving a student population that has declined in step with the city's falling child population — a structural challenge that has forced repeated consolidation discussions. Roughly 30% of San Francisco school-age children attend private or parochial schools, one of the highest private school shares among large U.S. cities.
City + regional contextPublic schools
SF Unified School DistrictApproximately 120 schoolsHealth sciences
University of California, San FranciscoGraduate research and biotechnology anchorPublic university
San Francisco State UniversityRoughly 22,000 studentsIn higher education, the University of California, San Francisco is a graduate-only health sciences campus and consistently ranks among the top recipients of National Institutes of Health research funding in the country; its Mission Bay campus anchors the city's biotechnology cluster. San Francisco State University enrolls roughly 22,000 students. The University of San Francisco, founded in 1855, is the city's oldest university. Other institutions include UC Law San Francisco (founded 1878), City College of San Francisco, the California College of the Arts, and the Academy of Art University. Stanford University and UC Berkeley, though outside city limits, are central to the regional talent pipeline.
Identity & place
Culture, Landmarks, and Attractions in San Francisco
San Francisco's cultural influence has always exceeded its size. It produced the Beat Generation, the psychedelic movement, a foundational LGBTQ rights movement, the modern American food revolution, and successive waves of technology culture.
City landmarksGolden Gate Bridge · Alcatraz · cable cars
SFMOMA · de Young · Asian Art Museum
SF Symphony · SF Opera · SF Ballet
California cuisine · cioppino · sourdough
Oracle Park · Chase Center
Golden Gate Park · Presidio · Ocean Beach
Major Landmarks
Major Landmarks
| Landmark | Built / Opened | Key Statistic |
|---|---|---|
| Golden Gate Bridge | 1937 | 4,200-ft main span; 746-ft towers; ~112,000 vehicles daily |
| Alcatraz Island | Prison 1934–1963 | Approximately 1.4 million visitors annually |
| Cable Cars | 1873 | Only mobile National Historic Landmark in the U.S. |
| Salesforce Tower | 2018 | 1,070 ft — tallest building in San Francisco |
| Transamerica Pyramid | 1972 | 853 ft; city icon for 46 years |
| Coit Tower | 1933 | 210 ft; Depression-era murals inside |
| Lombard Street | 1922 | Eight hairpin turns on a 27% grade block |
| Palace of Fine Arts | 1915 | Sole surviving structure of the Panama-Pacific Expo |
| Ferry Building | 1898 | Survived both 1906 and 1989 earthquakes |
| Chinatown | 1848 | Oldest Chinatown in North America |
| Mission Dolores | 1776 | Oldest intact building in San Francisco |
| Golden Gate Park | 1870 | 1,017 acres; larger than Central Park |
Museums and Performing Arts
The San Francisco Museum of Modern Art holds one of the largest modern and contemporary art collections in the United States, with roughly 170,000 square feet of gallery space following its 2016 expansion. Other major institutions include the de Young Museum and Legion of Honor (together the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco), the Asian Art Museum, the California Academy of Sciences with its living roof and integrated aquarium and planetarium, and the Exploratorium. The city supports the San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera, and San Francisco Ballet — the oldest professional ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933.
Food and Dining
San Francisco has among the highest restaurant-per-capita ratios in the United States and a dense concentration of Michelin-starred establishments. The city is credited as the birthplace of California cuisine, cioppino, Irish coffee, and the modern sourdough tradition, and its Mission-style burrito has become a nationally recognized regional form. The Ferry Building Marketplace and the surrounding farmers market are focal points of the Bay Area's farm-to-table movement.
Sports
The San Francisco Giants play at Oracle Park, opened in 2000 on the China Basin waterfront, and have won three World Series titles since relocating from New York in 1958. The Golden State Warriors returned to San Francisco in 2019 with the opening of Chase Center in Mission Bay. The San Francisco 49ers, five-time Super Bowl champions, play at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, roughly 40 miles south. San Francisco has hosted three Super Bowls and multiple America's Cup competitions.
Crime & context
Public Safety and Crime Statistics in San Francisco
San Francisco's crime statistics improved dramatically in 2025, reversing a pandemic-era spike that had come to define national perceptions of the city.
2025 reported dataTotal crime
−25%year over yearViolent crime
−18%year over yearProperty crime
−27%year over yearHomicides
28lowest total since 19542025 Crime Data
Total reported crime fell approximately 25% in 2025, with violent crime down 18% and property crime down 27%. The city recorded 28 homicides — the lowest total since 1954 and a 20% decline from the prior year. The homicide clearance rate reached 125% as detectives closed cases from previous years. Robberies fell 44.2%, larceny theft declined roughly 22% to about 16,500 incidents, motor vehicle thefts fell 24% to 3,011, and burglaries dropped 12.5% to 3,673. Aggravated assaults were the single exception, rising 28.6%.
2025 Crime Data
| Crime Category | 2025 Incidents | Year-Over-Year Change |
|---|---|---|
| Homicide | 28 | −20% (lowest since 1954) |
| Robbery | 3,011 | −44.2% |
| Aggravated assault | 2,046 | +28.6% |
| Larceny theft | Approximately 16,500 | −21.8% |
| Burglary | 3,673 | −12.5% |
| Motor vehicle theft | 3,011 | −24% |
| All crime | 27,321 | −25% |
For context on the broader baseline: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data for 2024 recorded a violent crime rate of 596.5 per 100,000 in the San Francisco jurisdiction against a national estimate of 359.1, alongside 31,545 property offenses. The 2025 declines therefore represent substantial improvement from an elevated starting point rather than a return to a historically low absolute level across all categories.
Beyond the headline
Information Gain: What Most San Francisco Pages Get Wrong
Encyclopedic sources tend to reproduce the same set of figures without interrogating them. The following points address common misreadings that appear across most reference pages about San Francisco.
Interpretive notesThe "Seven by Seven Miles" Figure Is Not Accurate
San Francisco is routinely described as "seven miles by seven miles," or 49 square miles. The actual land area is 46.91 square miles. More importantly, the city is not remotely square: it is an irregular polygon that runs roughly 7 miles north to south but varies substantially in width, and its total jurisdictional area including water is 231.9 square miles — nearly five times the land figure — because it encompasses bay waters, the Farallon Islands 27 miles offshore, and Alcatraz. The "7x7" shorthand persists because it is memorable, not because it is correct.
Population Decline and Economic Growth Are Not Contradictory
The most common analytical error about San Francisco is treating its 6% population loss since 2020 as evidence of economic decline. The two moved in opposite directions. Over the same period in which residents left, metro GDP grew, visitor spending returned to record levels, office vacancy posted the largest year-over-year improvement in the country, and asking rents rose 14% in a four-month span. The explanation is that residential population and economic output are only loosely coupled in a city where the daytime population — commuters, visitors, and workers — differs enormously from the resident count, and where output is concentrated in a small number of extremely high-value firms. Office badge scans remained below 50% of pre-pandemic levels through 2025 even as leasing hit multi-year highs, meaning companies are committing to space faster than workers are physically returning.
The Microclimate Effect Is Large Enough to Be an Economic Variable
San Francisco's microclimates are usually mentioned as trivia. They are better understood as a pricing input. On a typical summer afternoon, the temperature differential between the Outer Sunset near Ocean Beach and the Mission District — roughly four miles apart — can exceed 15°F, with the western neighborhoods fogbound and the eastern ones sunny. This gradient tracks closely with neighborhood desirability, historical development patterns, and price per square foot. Any analysis of San Francisco housing that treats the city as a single climate zone will misattribute a weather premium to other variables.
The AI Boom Is Reshaping Rents Faster Than It Is Creating Jobs
The prevailing narrative holds that AI is repopulating San Francisco with high-paid workers. The data does not support the simple version of that claim. Tech employment in the San Francisco–San Mateo region stood at 190,800 in November 2025 — roughly 14% below the August 2022 peak and slightly down year over year. Meanwhile AI-driven office leasing hit records and residential asking rents surged. The city's chief economist has stated plainly that AI is eliminating jobs as well as adding them, and that AI investment is driving private-sector growth indirectly rather than through headcount. The practical implication is that San Francisco is experiencing a capital boom with a muted labor boom — which produces rent inflation without proportional wage-earner inflow.
Per-Capita Budget Comparisons Are Structurally Invalid
San Francisco's $16.9 billion budget divided by its 826,079 residents yields approximately $20,460 per resident, a number frequently deployed in commentary comparing it to other cities. The comparison does not hold. San Francisco is California's only consolidated city-county, so a single budget absorbs municipal services, county services, a public hospital system, the jail system, the Port, the Public Utilities Commission, and San Francisco International Airport — enterprises that appear in separate budgets or separate agencies elsewhere. A meaningful comparison requires isolating the general fund and matching service scope, which most published comparisons do not attempt.
Quick answers
Frequently Asked Questions About San Francisco
What is the current population of San Francisco?
San Francisco had an estimated 826,079 residents as of July 1, 2025, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. This is down 6.0% from the 2020 estimates base of 878,550 and below the 2020 Census count of 873,965. San Francisco is the fourth-largest city in California after Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Jose, and the 17th-largest in the United States.
How big is San Francisco in square miles?
San Francisco covers 46.91 square miles of land, or approximately 121.5 square kilometers. Including the surrounding water within its jurisdiction, total area is roughly 231.9 square miles. The commonly cited "seven by seven miles" description is an approximation rather than an accurate measurement.
Why is San Francisco so expensive?
San Francisco combines extremely constrained supply with extremely high incomes. The city is hemmed in by water on three sides with only 46.91 square miles of land, has restrictive zoning and a lengthy entitlement process, and hosts a concentration of high-paying technology and finance employers. Median household income is $140,970 against a median home value of $1,394,500 — roughly ten times income. The 2025–26 AI investment surge has pushed asking rents up 14% in four months, widening the gap further.
Is San Francisco safe?
San Francisco recorded historic crime declines in 2025, with total crime down 25%, violent crime down 18%, property crime down 27%, and 28 homicides — the lowest since 1954. Its homicide rate is low compared with most large American cities. However, FBI data for 2024 showed a violent crime rate of 596.5 per 100,000 versus a national estimate of 359.1, and property crime, particularly vehicle break-ins, has historically run high. Conditions vary substantially by neighborhood, with the Tenderloin and parts of SoMa presenting the most visible street-level challenges.
What is San Francisco known for?
San Francisco is known for the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, cable cars, its steep hills and Victorian architecture, persistent summer fog, and Chinatown — the oldest in North America. Economically it is known as the headquarters city for Salesforce, Uber, Airbnb, OpenAI, and Anthropic, and as the center of successive technology booms. Culturally it is known for the Beat Generation, the 1967 Summer of Love, the Castro District and the LGBTQ rights movement, and California cuisine.
What is the best time to visit San Francisco?
September and October are San Francisco's warmest and clearest months, making early autumn the optimal time to visit. Summer, contrary to expectation, is frequently the foggiest and coolest period, particularly in the western half of the city. Winter brings the bulk of the roughly 23 inches of annual rainfall between November and March. Temperatures rarely fall below 45°F or rise above 75°F in any season.
Who is the mayor of San Francisco?
Daniel Lurie has served as Mayor of San Francisco since January 2025, having defeated incumbent London Breed in the November 2024 election. He signed a two-year city budget of $16.9 billion for fiscal 2026–27 and $17.2 billion for 2027–28, closing a projected deficit of more than $600 million. Legislative power rests with an 11-member Board of Supervisors elected by district.
The city in one view
San Francisco in Summary
San Francisco is a city of extreme concentration — 826,079 people, 46.91 square miles, and an economic footprint that anchors a $1.5 trillion regional economy. Its statistics resist simple narratives. The population has fallen 6% since 2020 while metro output grew. Crime hit multi-decade lows in 2025 while remaining above national averages in some categories. Office vacancy sits near 30% while posting the fastest improvement in the country. Tech employment is down 14% from peak while AI capital investment drives record leasing and double-digit rent growth.
Key takeawaysThe through-line across 250 years is that San Francisco has always been a boom city — gold, silver, railroads, shipping, semiconductors, the internet, and now artificial intelligence — and every boom has arrived faster than the city's 46.91 square miles could absorb it. The current cycle is following the same pattern, with the added complication that this boom is generating capital investment far faster than jobs.
Method & provenance
Sources and notes
City-level figures are used where available. Metropolitan, regional, or gateway figures are explicitly labeled so they are not mistaken for city-boundary statistics.
Data sources: U.S. Census Bureau (Population Estimates Program V2025; American Community Survey 2020–2024; 2022 Economic Census), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, San Francisco Controller's Office, San Francisco Police Department, SFMTA, SF Travel Association, CBRE, and the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program. Figures current as of August 2026.
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